2023

Hello friends. So many of you have babies who are adults now, as one thing I loved connecting with was followers with kids about my kids' ages. In fact, I doubt any of my followers are still active, reading blogs, reminiscing, or connecting with people like we used to when the kids were young. Blogging was my connection to other adults, back then. I think now, blogging may become my way of connecting to nobody in particular, but still providing me with an outlet to let my emotions flow freely.

Life is a funny thing sometimes.

23 years ago, I met my high school sweetheart. At a party neither one of us were supposed to go to, and I knew he was the man I was going to marry. Three years later, we got married, had kids, and lived "happily ever after"... until we didn't.

Truth be told, the fairy tale ended many years ago, I was just too stubborn to "break family habits" to recognize it. My husband's parents divorced, my parents lived in a toxic relationship for 43 years "for the kids" and then divorced when they were grandparents. I didn't want that life for me, or my kids... either one of them.

Many differences and a slew of toxicity was the straw that broke the camel's back, but finally this year, I had enough. Our landlord sent us a letter saying they weren't going to renew our lease and that we'd need to vacate the property at the end of our lease. The good news was that this was 5 months away. The bad news is that I am now a school teacher, and that's the last month of school, the same weekend as prom for my daughter, my son's birthday weekend, and testing week. NOT good timing, at all. But, being me, I started planning ahead. I figured if we found something we could move into a month prior, that would be great. . . move out little by little, get everything situated, and then dump the rest. The husband didn't want to. He "had a feeling" that the landlord would sell the house to us, and that we wouldn't need to move. In the meanwhile, I asked my husband to help me organize the garage, as there was stuff in it from our storage unit, from both of our family homes that had been purged, and an assortment of kids crap that hadn't been used in for-ev-er... but it had to be done. He essentially refused, and told me that the cult he joined was more important than the garage, or our family. Well, those weren't the words he used, but that was what he said. At that moment I knew, I survived cancer, I went back to school and graduated during a pandemic with my bachelors degree at 38, and I was NOT going to waste anymore of my life.

I wanted to LIVE my life. Enjoy my life. Not be aggravated as much.

So, I moved out. The kids came with me, and we found this great condo. It's not far from where we lived, so while there was a change, there wasn't a ton of change... so that was good. The kids all have their own room, their own space to be themselves. It's peaceful now. Unless my husband comes around, then the toil, torment, and tension begins. Not just with me, but with the kids, too. It's frustrating. Part of me wishes I was strong enough to move out years ago, but then I wouldn't have found this place. I do like it a lot, and my landlord has been quick to fix any of the issues that have arisen since we've moved in.

The kids (and I) have one more week left of school before the summer is here. Summer in Florida isn't as fun as in other places. It's always hot here, but summer is usually our rainy season. This year, we haven't had much rain during the spring, which usually means it will be very rainy over the summer. I hope we can get some good R&R over the next 2 months. My daughter wants to road-trip around to check out some Florida colleges. My little guy is moving up to middle school. I am thinking about switching grade levels and schools. Life is changing, but change is good. Hopefully, this time, I will write more frequently. Get back to the things that I once loved and that brought me joy. But for now, I have to grade 120 interactive notebooks. If you read this... leave me a comment, and let me know that I'm not just talking to great, wide, world of nothing... lol!

Until next time...